Sunday, May 22, 2011

Om Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom the Lovely, the Holy !

Avalokita, the Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond.

He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and He saw that in their own-being they were empty.

Here, O Sariputra,

form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form ;

emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form,

the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.

Here, O Sariputra,

all dharmas are marked with emptiness ;

they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.

Therefore, O Sariputra,

in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness ;

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind ; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind ; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to :

No mind-consciousness element ; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to : There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.

There is no cognition, no attainment and no non-attainment.

Therefore, O Sariputra,

it is because of his non-attainmentness that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble,

he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.

All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.

Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth -- for what could go wrong ? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this :

"Avalokiteshvara proclaimed the pith of the prajnaparamita, the essence of the rug-pulling-out experience, the essence of the fearless, open state of mind. It came in the form of a mantra: "OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA." Just as a seed contains the tree, this mantra contains the entire teachings on abiding in prajnaparamita, abiding in the fearless state.

"OM gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, awake, so be it." This is a description of a process, a journey, of always stepping out further and further. We could also say, "OM groundlessness, groundlessness, more groundlessness, even beyond groundlessness, fully awake, so be it!"

No matter where we are on the bodhisattva path, whether we are just beginning or we've practiced for years, we're always stepping further into groundlessness. Enlightenment is not the end of anything. Enlightenment, being completely awake, is just the beginning of fully entering into we know not what.

When the great bodhisattva finished teaching, the Buddha came out of his meditation and said, "Good, good! You expressed it perfectly, Avalokiteshvara." And those in the audience who hadn't walked out or died from heart attacks rejoiced. They rejoiced at hearing this teaching on stepping beyond fear."

Sunshine Coast, British Columbia.

Master Henry

Biography

Master trained extensively for several years in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Originally from Taiwan, he gave up a successful career as a university professor and became a Buddhist Monk.

In 1996 after a short period in Toronto he landed on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. he lived in a small cabin for 8 years concentrating on his meditation practice, with the support of the Taiwanese and Canadian community a piece of land was purchased, later on the monastery was built.

Currently Master Henry still travels to Hong Kong and Taiwan twice a year to teach Cha'n to people from all walks of life. His sincere approach to the core of Buddha's teachings & his exceptional personality have touched the hearts of many fortunate beings

Only One Heart

Gaze into the Emptiness, the illusory changings of this world.Enter the Emptiness. Others have. It’s not so hard.Is there any place that’s unreachable when you make the effort?Don’t be left behind because you’ve confused yourself over this.

Here! Let me rap you on the head with my stick!Shut up, foolish face! Stop talking a minute!Don’t be so quick to argue!The mystery is so exquisite! It can’t be discussed!Yes, I recite the Buddha’s name… or is the Buddha reciting mine?What’s the recitation for anyway?There’s only One Heart and It’s in the Pure Land.The Buddha is my own True Nature.

The Buddha and me! We’re one, not two. So are you!You’re chanting to this? You are this!Come, hold on to this reality! Don’t be swept away into illusion.History is an endless lie.Let today be the day that the clouds and fog lift.Don’t let a wisp of them remain.Let your body live here, but keep your spirit evanescent.See that when it’s free,It can’t be bogged down into those old familiar truth